Persons owning homes are common consumers of recreational patio and pool furniture. In many instances, homeowners purchase patio and pool furniture for the convenience and comfort they provide when leisurely relaxing outside or near a pool. Consumers of recreational furniture usually have an interest in the aesthetic beauty of a piece of patio or pool furniture and intend such furnishings to enhance the settings of their homes and to add to the decor of their pool areas.
Outdoor benches have traditionally provided persons with a place to sit and relax outside in the yard, on the porch, or near the pool. Many homeowners purchase lawn benches made of natural woods and finish them with a weather protecting varnish to ensure the longevity of the wood against the elements of nature. Although lawn benches have traditionally provided a means of sitting and relaxing in an outdoor setting, when it comes time for eating, such benches provide no satisfactory surface for supporting the dinnerware or the food to be eaten.
Many homeowners have accordingly purchased picnic tables as an appropriate means for placing food and other items thereon and in order to provide appropriate surface space to accommodate such food or other items and to provide a place to sit while enjoying the meal. However, when the meal is completed, the seat or bench associated with the picnic table no longer provides a comfortable advantage to those individuals seeking to relax and enjoy the outdoor setting. Typically, the main option of comfort while sitting on the bench of a picnic table is to lean forward and rest one's elbows on the tabletop. Although a picnic table provides a great function while eating outdoors, when it comes time to relax and enjoy the pleasant outdoor weather while communicating with family or friends, a park bench would provide a more comfortable piece of furniture. Hence, many homeowners have consequently purchased both park bench and picnic table types of outdoor furniture for their use and enjoyment.
In view of the foregoing, attempts have been made by some to manufacture a convertible bench/table structure which provides a bench with a seat and backrest in one position, which can then be transformed into a seat with a tabletop structure, analogous to a picnic table, in another position. Although the presently known convertible park bench/picnic table devices afford significant advantages over the use of separate tables, benches, and chairs, significant disadvantages remain.
Naturally, consumers generally prefer products that include simple and easy means of operation. Unfortunately, however, the presently known convertible park bench/picnic table devices typically employ complicated mechanical laches and multiple pivotal points to accomplish a conformational transformation of the park bench into a picnic table for dining. Likewise, the components of such presently known devices often rely upon multiple working parts, a significant number of nut and bolt assemblies, and a plurality of pivotal joints to construct the final working unit. Because of the necessity of numerous mechanical parts in such devices, production and manufacturing costs are proportionately increased and ultimately passed on to the consumer.
In addition, the multiplicity of working parts, the arrangement of the various nut and bolt assemblies, and the array of pivotal joints in the final construction of presently known convertible bench/table structures, present the consumer with a generally frustrating assembly process. In many situations, the consumer ends up trying to read and interpret lengthy and somewhat complicated instructions to assemble such a convertible bench/table structure for use.
Another disadvantage of presently known convertible bench/table structures is the difficult and sometimes awkward means of converting the park bench into the picnic table conformation. In some instances, not only do pivotal pins have to be adjusted or frame members slidably modified in their adjacent slots, but with many known convertible table/bench devices, the repositioning of a backrest into a tabletop position requires more than one individual to accomplish.
The end result is that consumers can be called upon to make a lengthy investment of time in assembling their final working units. And with the numbers of mechanical working parts to assemble, the process of home construction can be an intense or frustrating experience, often forcing consumers to meticulously wade through in-depth and sometimes over technical instructions to realize any use from their "recreational" furniture.